PHYSICAL BASIS OF DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Basic physical knowledge of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation and their interactions with matter.
The exam consists of an oral interview for the verification of the correct understanding of the contents and the topics explained in class, also summarized in educational materials given to the students.
The course of Physical Basis of Diagnostic Imaging provides an overview of the various equipment used in the medical field and aims to furnish the knowledge of the physical principles which are used in the different methods of diagnostic images with particular attention to the advanced technology of morphological and molecular analysis.
The intention is to explain the physical principles governing the medical imaging and to illustrate the multiplicity and the peculiarities of the different production methods of the images that exploit the interaction of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation with the structures of the human body to be surveyed.
The course also aims to provide an understanding of the quality control techniques of the methodologies used in diagnostic systems, with the deepening of specific issues regarding the technical management and processing characteristic of digital medical imaging.
The course program includes a section on the human visual system and an introduction to the physics of medical images, with a brief historical reminder and an overview of the different diagnostic methods developed until now.
For an analytical description of image quality the main descriptive physical parameters of medical images and a comparison between analog and digital images are presented.
Historically the discussion on the multiplicity of imaging methods begins by considering diagnostic radiology with X-rays and image receptors, understanding the application in mammography and computed tomography.
Then the physical characteristics of ultrasound equipment, systems of magnetic and diagnostic nuclear medicine resonance techniques are shown.
With regard to the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) equipment, the radiometabolic therapy and radiopharmaceuticals used are presented. In diagnostic ultrasound imaging the basic technology of Ultrasound and Doppler flowmetry is described.
The physical principles and the process of formation of images in MRI, the main components of a MR system and the safety aspects for patients and workers are also presented.
-
- Steve Webb: The physics of medical imaging. Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol and Philadelphia, 1992.
- William R. Hendee and E. Russell Ritenour Medical Imaging Physics. 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Copies of the slides presented during the lectures of the course.
The educational activities comprise mainly lectures on various topics, including the use of examples and exercises.
There will also be guided tours of the hospital wards with the Imaging Systems presented during the course and some specific seminars by various sector specialists.
Students will be received by appointment arranged by email.